Texas Grid is on the Edge Again!

[MrSquished]

It was barely a hurricane. Tons of power outages. Everything is indeed bigger in Texas, including their power outages.

Would be lovely if they stopped yapping their mouths and fucking secede already.

 

[BoomerD]

I lived someplace that was and will in the future by hammered by ice storms causing outages of up to a week. Back in the mid-90s the question of burying lines came up and everyone shit on it because it would take 25 years and cost $2 a month per customer added to the bill. Guess what? They still have week long outages and bitch about it.

Burying existing powerlines is expensive. Overhead power lines are just uninsulated “copper.” If you bury them, they have to be specially insulated and in conduit…plus you have to dig the trenches, install vaults, etc. It’s at least 50% more to do it as new construction when it makes sense, but doing it after the fact? BIG expense.

Underground vs. overhead: Power line installation-cost comparison and mitigation

Hurricane Sandy left many electric utility executives, their customers, local and state government leaders and regulators contemplating placing overhead power lines underground.

www.power-grid.com

 

[brycejones]

Burying existing powerlines is expensive. Overhead power lines are just uninsulated “copper.” If you bury them, they have to be specially insulated and in conduit…plus you have to dig the trenches, install vaults, etc. It’s at least 50% more to do it as new construction when it makes sense, but doing it after the fact? BIG expense.

Underground vs. overhead: Power line installation-cost comparison and mitigation

Hurricane Sandy left many electric utility executives, their customers, local and state government leaders and regulators contemplating placing overhead power lines underground.

www.power-grid.com

So back in the mid 90s you wouldn't have paid $2 extra a month for 25 years to bury lines?

 

[BoomerD]

So back in the mid 90s you wouldn't have paid $2 extra a month for 25 years to bury lines?

Me? Sure…however, I suspect that $2/mo x25 years was just smoke and mirrors numbers.
In the late 80s and early 90s, I was the crane operator for an electrical utility company. In addition to my regular hoisting work, I also worked with the line crews…overhead for big power poles, and underground for transformers, helping them pull wire through conduit, etc. Overhead is MUCH cheaper…and the maintenance on overhead is much cheaper as well…except when a big storm comes in and takes out miles and miles of wire and poles.

 

[MtnMan]

Watched people painting their homes entirely black/grey in Austin. Cursed trend.

Same with buying a black vehicle living in FL, TX, AZ, etc. You would need gloves to open the door if the sun was hitting that side.

 

[SteveGrabowski]

Watched people painting their homes entirely black/grey in Austin. Cursed trend.

Dude a couple blocks from me painted his house dark dark gray, almost black in San Antonio. Within a couple of months of summer starting his siding was completely fucking warped, funniest shit ever. Why the hell would you paint you house that color in a place that was coming off a summer where it was 102 every day?

 

[Viper1j]

Meanwhile, Wheelie Greg is eating sushi of some Geisha girl's stomach..

Why do people pay for services they don't get?

https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/11/weather/texas-heat-beryl-power-outage-thursday/index.html

Anger mounts in southeast Texas as crippling power outages and heat turn deadly​

CNN —
Frustrations are mounting across southeast Texas as residents enter a fourth day of crippling power outages and heat, a combination that has proven dangerous – and at times deadly – as some struggle to access food, gas and medical care.

More than 1.3 million homes and businesses across the region are still without power after Beryl slammed into the Gulf Coast as a Category 1 hurricane on Monday, leaving at least 11 people dead across Texas and Louisiana.

Many residents are sheltering with friends or family who still have power, but many can’t afford to leave their homes, Houston City Councilman Julian Ramirez told CNN. And while countless families have lost food in their warming fridges, many stores are still closed, leaving government offices, food banks, and other public services scrambling to distribute food to underserved areas, he said.

“Those folks have no choice but to stay home and tough it out,” he said.

As residents desperately try to cool their homes with generators, carbon monoxide poisoning has become a serious concern. At least two people have died in Harris County from carbon monoxide poisoning and fire departments have received more than 200 carbon monoxide poisoning calls in 24 hours, local officials said.

A 71-year-old woman died near Crystal Beach after her oxygen machine ran out of battery and her generator shut down. While officials said the woman’s official cause of death had yet to be determined, it renewed calls for residents to check on their loved ones and neighbors.

“If you’re wondering if someone is OK if you think they have the medically necessary equipment that has a battery that needs to be charged, don’t risk it,” Texas State Sen. Mayes Middleton said. “And call 911, please.”



Heat-related medical emergencies are also spiking in Houston as 90-degree temperatures blanket southeast Texas, city fire chief Samuel Peña said.

The heat index – a measurement of how the body feels under both heat and humidity – could reach 106 degrees in some areas, a life-threatening scenario for people without adequate cooling.

The dangerous heat hasn’t been limited to Texas. At least 28 heat-related deaths in the West have been reported since July 1, as a record-breaking heat wave beats down on states including California, Oregon and Arizona.

In Texas, a family in Needville, about 40 miles southwest of Houston, gave in and bought a window air conditioning unit on Wednesday after three days of sweltering heat. Jennifer Purswell said she has plugged the unit into a generator and is using plastic sheets draped over doorways to trap cool air in the living room.

Essential operations such as hospitals and senior living homes have been prioritizing powering medically necessary medical equipment. Some Houston hospitals are at risk of overcrowding as they cannot release patients to homes without power, prompting city officials to organize overflow beds in an indoor sports stadium, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said Tuesday.

Nine fire stations in Houston have closed and relocated because they did not have generators, Peña said, even as emergency calls flood in.

Animal rescue teams and pet owners have also been working overtime to protect fuzzy companions. Pug Hearts Houston owner Cindy Rothermel said she has heard of pug owners sitting in their cars with the A/C running to cool the dogs down in “intolerable” heat.

Texans losing patience with utility company​

As miserable conditions persist, Houston area residents are growing increasingly frustrated with CenterPoint Energy, the city’s primary utility company that is responsible for restoring the vast majority of outages.

“Almost universally people have lost patience with CenterPoint,” City Councilman Ramirez told CNN over the phone.

Beryl’s impact left more than 2.2 million customers without electricity on Monday. By Wednesday night, the utility said it had restored power to 1.1 million customers and hoped to have an additional 400,000 restored by Friday and 350,000 more by Sunday.

But anger is spreading among residents who say that the utility should have been more prepared for the storm.

“CenterPoint can’t seem to tell us how long this is going to last. The first outage we experienced (in May), I was out of power four to five days, and I think that was pretty common,” Ramirez said. “This one, who knows? Could be longer. They’re not telling us.”

Noting the widespread anger, Ramirez also pointed out new street art in Houston – a graffiti tag on Interstate 10 that says “Centerpointle$$.”

The Harris County Republican Party criticized CenterPoint in a social media post for its “seemingly lack of preparedness.”

“CenterPoint is the number one provider of power for Harris County residents and must do better. They owe us answers,” the post read.

Across social media, residents have criticized CenterPoint’s power outage map, saying there are inaccuracies on the map where it says the power is restored but it’s not.

The city council grilled a CenterPoint executive on Wednesday, asking why the company hasn’t done more to prepare for storms.

Brad Tutunjian, CenterPoint vice president of electric distribution and power delivery, said they’ve never seen an incident to this magnitude and described it as the “largest outage in our history.”

“We have made solid progress and exceeded the number of customer restorations following Hurricane Ike, but we have a lot of important work ahead, especially in the hardest-hit areas where the work will be more complex and time-consuming,” a utility spokesperson said.

Elder care facilities struggle without power​

Senior care facilities and residents who rely on electric medical devices are particularly at risk as power outages stretch through at least the end of the week.

Ian Wu, an owner of the Ella Springs assisted senior living facility in the Houston area, said he has been fielding concerns from families as his 85 residents remain in the dark – some without power for oxygen machines.

“Right now, we’re trying to keep our generators up to power the essential stuff like for cooking and oxygen tanks,” Wu told CNN affiliate KTRK.

Wu said that the facility is registered as a critical load customer for whom service is considered crucial, but he has no clarity on when their power will be restored.

“I try to be understanding because I know there’s a million other people feeling the same way,” Wu told KTRK. “But a little bit acknowledging we’re a high-priority place would be nice.”

Patricia Romano, who moved her 92-year-old mother to her home, called the situation “ridiculous.”

“Don’t we owe it to our people who can’t take care of themselves to take care of them?” Romano said to the affiliate.

 

[sdifox]

You mean the people that keep electing Republicans are pissed? Elections have consequences.

 

[brycejones]

The good news is Texans don't have to worry about woke policies like strengthening the grid to deal with climate change. Freedumb is awesome!

 

[SteveGrabowski]

I can't imagine how many people will die from not having power in the energy capital of the world. Houston is seriously one of the nastiest climates imaginable in the US with the unreal humidity of places like Louisiana and Mississippi and the ridiculous temperatures of Texas and no home built within the last 70 years is designed to be livable without AC. I can't imagine what the excess deaths will be like from this but of course it'll be swept under the rug as death from an act of god instead of death from a shitty power company. Welcome to America motherfuckers.

 

[Brovane]

You mean the people that keep electing Republicans are pissed? Elections have consequences.

That is ok, Texas has their Freedom grid. If this was happening in CA. Red states politicians would be going on TV talking about how incompetent the liberal government is in Sacramento. Power is down for several days in Texas and all we hear is crickets. Just waiting for someone to blame this on renewables.

 

[Brovane]

Meanwhile, Wheelie Greg is eating sushi of some Geisha girl's stomach..

Why do people pay for services they don't get?

https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/11/weather/texas-heat-beryl-power-outage-thursday/index.html

Anger mounts in southeast Texas as crippling power outages and heat turn deadly​

CNN —
Frustrations are mounting across southeast Texas as residents enter a fourth day of crippling power outages and heat, a combination that has proven dangerous – and at times deadly – as some struggle to access food, gas and medical care.

More than 1.3 million homes and businesses across the region are still without power after Beryl slammed into the Gulf Coast as a Category 1 hurricane on Monday, leaving at least 11 people dead across Texas and Louisiana.

Many residents are sheltering with friends or family who still have power, but many can’t afford to leave their homes, Houston City Councilman Julian Ramirez told CNN. And while countless families have lost food in their warming fridges, many stores are still closed, leaving government offices, food banks, and other public services scrambling to distribute food to underserved areas, he said.

“Those folks have no choice but to stay home and tough it out,” he said.

As residents desperately try to cool their homes with generators, carbon monoxide poisoning has become a serious concern. At least two people have died in Harris County from carbon monoxide poisoning and fire departments have received more than 200 carbon monoxide poisoning calls in 24 hours, local officials said.

A 71-year-old woman died near Crystal Beach after her oxygen machine ran out of battery and her generator shut down. While officials said the woman’s official cause of death had yet to be determined, it renewed calls for residents to check on their loved ones and neighbors.

“If you’re wondering if someone is OK if you think they have the medically necessary equipment that has a battery that needs to be charged, don’t risk it,” Texas State Sen. Mayes Middleton said. “And call 911, please.”

View attachment 102818

Heat-related medical emergencies are also spiking in Houston as 90-degree temperatures blanket southeast Texas, city fire chief Samuel Peña said.

The heat index – a measurement of how the body feels under both heat and humidity – could reach 106 degrees in some areas, a life-threatening scenario for people without adequate cooling.

The dangerous heat hasn’t been limited to Texas. At least 28 heat-related deaths in the West have been reported since July 1, as a record-breaking heat wave beats down on states including California, Oregon and Arizona.

In Texas, a family in Needville, about 40 miles southwest of Houston, gave in and bought a window air conditioning unit on Wednesday after three days of sweltering heat. Jennifer Purswell said she has plugged the unit into a generator and is using plastic sheets draped over doorways to trap cool air in the living room.

Essential operations such as hospitals and senior living homes have been prioritizing powering medically necessary medical equipment. Some Houston hospitals are at risk of overcrowding as they cannot release patients to homes without power, prompting city officials to organize overflow beds in an indoor sports stadium, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said Tuesday.

Nine fire stations in Houston have closed and relocated because they did not have generators, Peña said, even as emergency calls flood in.

Animal rescue teams and pet owners have also been working overtime to protect fuzzy companions. Pug Hearts Houston owner Cindy Rothermel said she has heard of pug owners sitting in their cars with the A/C running to cool the dogs down in “intolerable” heat.

Texans losing patience with utility company​

As miserable conditions persist, Houston area residents are growing increasingly frustrated with CenterPoint Energy, the city’s primary utility company that is responsible for restoring the vast majority of outages.

“Almost universally people have lost patience with CenterPoint,” City Councilman Ramirez told CNN over the phone.

Beryl’s impact left more than 2.2 million customers without electricity on Monday. By Wednesday night, the utility said it had restored power to 1.1 million customers and hoped to have an additional 400,000 restored by Friday and 350,000 more by Sunday.

But anger is spreading among residents who say that the utility should have been more prepared for the storm.

“CenterPoint can’t seem to tell us how long this is going to last. The first outage we experienced (in May), I was out of power four to five days, and I think that was pretty common,” Ramirez said. “This one, who knows? Could be longer. They’re not telling us.”

Noting the widespread anger, Ramirez also pointed out new street art in Houston – a graffiti tag on Interstate 10 that says “Centerpointle$$.”

The Harris County Republican Party criticized CenterPoint in a social media post for its “seemingly lack of preparedness.”

“CenterPoint is the number one provider of power for Harris County residents and must do better. They owe us answers,” the post read.

Across social media, residents have criticized CenterPoint’s power outage map, saying there are inaccuracies on the map where it says the power is restored but it’s not.

The city council grilled a CenterPoint executive on Wednesday, asking why the company hasn’t done more to prepare for storms.

Brad Tutunjian, CenterPoint vice president of electric distribution and power delivery, said they’ve never seen an incident to this magnitude and described it as the “largest outage in our history.”

“We have made solid progress and exceeded the number of customer restorations following Hurricane Ike, but we have a lot of important work ahead, especially in the hardest-hit areas where the work will be more complex and time-consuming,” a utility spokesperson said.

Elder care facilities struggle without power​

Senior care facilities and residents who rely on electric medical devices are particularly at risk as power outages stretch through at least the end of the week.

Ian Wu, an owner of the Ella Springs assisted senior living facility in the Houston area, said he has been fielding concerns from families as his 85 residents remain in the dark – some without power for oxygen machines.

“Right now, we’re trying to keep our generators up to power the essential stuff like for cooking and oxygen tanks,” Wu told CNN affiliate KTRK.

Wu said that the facility is registered as a critical load customer for whom service is considered crucial, but he has no clarity on when their power will be restored.

“I try to be understanding because I know there’s a million other people feeling the same way,” Wu told KTRK. “But a little bit acknowledging we’re a high-priority place would be nice.”

Patricia Romano, who moved her 92-year-old mother to her home, called the situation “ridiculous.”

“Don’t we owe it to our people who can’t take care of themselves to take care of them?” Romano said to the affiliate.

Who the fuck builds a fire station with no backup generator? Oh that is right, Texas explains it all.

 

[MrSquished]

Shithole state.

 

[K1052]

Who the fuck builds a fire station with no backup generator? Oh that is right, Texas explains it all.

All the ones around me in CA have them. Including the older stations in my neighborhood. Saw one of them doing the monthly testing a while back when I was getting coffee across the street.

 

[hal2kilo]

All the ones around me in CA have them. Including the older stations in my neighborhood. Saw one of them doing the monthly testing a while back when I was getting coffee across the street.

They just built a new fire station about 2 blocks from me. Thankfully, now that the climate seems to have shifted significantly, and I live surrounded by tall firs. There's a giant Generac generator there also. Seems like it's a no brainer to have one.

 

[Stokely]

Not as if the decades ahead won't make the 2020s look like the ice age, if those pesky elitist science lefties are correct. That's if there's an internet at all by then, and after covid my faith in modern society surviving a serious challenge is quite low.

But not to worry, plenty of time to somehow blame Obama and the rest of the Democrats for Climate Change after it becomes obvious that it actually fricking exists!

 

[SteveGrabowski]

Shithole state.

Best part is our crooked governor Abbott is out on a field trip to Asia with one of the VPs of CenterPoint (Jason Ryan), the company currently killing Houston residents.

Governor Abbott To Lead Economic Development Mission To Taiwan, South Korea, Japan

gov.texas.gov

 

[brycejones]

Not as if the decades ahead won't make the 2020s look like the ice age, if those pesky elitist science lefties are correct. That's if there's an internet at all by then, and after covid my faith in modern society surviving a serious challenge is quite low.

But not to worry, plenty of time to somehow blame Obama and the rest of the Democrats for Climate Change after it becomes obvious that it actually fricking exists!

Too easy. It’s the dems fault for not making republicans act. Also it’s too late to do anything so what policies will just continue to make the wealth flow uphill? That’s what the GOP will do.

 

[APU_Fusion]

That is ok, Texas has their Freedom grid. If this was happening in CA. Red states politicians would be going on TV talking about how incompetent the liberal government is in Sacramento. Power is down for several days in Texas and all we hear is crickets. Just waiting for someone to blame this on renewables.

I pray they are denied all federal aid in case of emergency. They are free and powerful and have no need of the Federal tit right? Big boy britches and all that jazz

 

[Brovane]

I pray they are denied all federal aid in case of emergency. They are free and powerful and have no need of the Federal tit right? Big boy britches and all that jazz

The opposite happened. Biden declared a emergency and now the Texas Republicans are upset that he didn't declare it earlier on Monday. Biden was waiting to talk to either the governor or the Lt. Governor and the Governor is out of the country and they couldn't get ahold of the Lt. Governor until Tuesday morning. The Governor has to officially request the emergency before POTUS can declare it.

 

[brycejones]

The opposite happened. Biden declared an emergency and now the Texas Republicans are upset that he didn't declare it earlier on Monday. Biden was waiting to talk to either the governor or the Lt. Governor and the Governor is out of the country and they couldn't get ahold of the Lt. Governor until Tuesday morning. The Governor has to officially request the emergency before POTUS can declare it.

So Dan Patrick was mia when the people of Texas needed him? Not shocking.

 

[sdifox]

The opposite happened. Biden declared a emergency and now the Texas Republicans are upset that he didn't declare it earlier on Monday. Biden was waiting to talk to either the governor or the Lt. Governor and the Governor is out of the country and they couldn't get ahold of the Lt. Governor until Tuesday morning. The Governor has to officially request the emergency before POTUS can declare it.

Texan governor Abbot doesn't know you can make international calls?

 

[Brovane]

So Dan Patrick was mia when the people of Texas needed him? Not shocking.

He is apparently claiming he was with FEMA but who knows. Just easier to blame Biden than to take responsibility for anything.

 

[nakedfrog]

He is apparently claiming he was with FEMA but who knows. Just easier to blame Biden than to take responsibility for anything.

I expect that will be a popular strategy if Trump wins in November, too. Unless he forgets it's the 2020s and blames Obama.

 

[VRAMdemon]

Residents are relying on the Whataburger app to track outages since the state doesn’t seem to know where the power is out.

'Joke of a state': Texans relying on fast food app to track outages slam utility company

After the devastation left in the wake of Hurricane Beryl, millions of Texans were left without power. And once again, residents of the Lone Star State were unable to count on Texas' flagship utility company for either prompt service restoration or even reliable communication.Some Texans...

www.rawstory.com

Anyone know if Ted Cruz is trying to book a flight to Norway?